Bedtime Stories
by ninjaeatcookie
Summary: Pre TAE. Fang reads a bedtime story to Angel. Oneshot.


**AN: This was inspired by a drabble on the Maximum-X Fanfiction Flock by letsbeginwiththisdance (did I spell it right?) where Fang reads to Angel. It's not exactly like it, but that's where I got the idea. **

**This oneshot set three years before The Angel Experiment. For a reference, Angel is 3, Fang is 11, and Max is 11 as well. They are at the E-shaped house. Happy Reading!**

**To 'me', the anonymus reviewer: You're right. Truth be told, I completely forgot about him... thanks for pointing that out! I fixed it, so it makes more sense. **

Max's POV:

I walked quietly toward Nudge and Angel's room. I didn't know if they were asleep yet, and I wasn't going to wake them up. Jeb was out somewhere, doing the grocery shopping, so the Flock was home alone, technically.

Their bedroom door was cracked open, and I could hear two voices from within: one high pitched and girly, and the other somewhat deeper, calmer. I peeked through the crack to see what was going on.

"… And they lived happily ever after," said Fang, closing the book shut.

"Yay!" Angel said, clapping her small hands together. She was sitting on Fang's lap, the large storybook in front of her. "Can you read me another one?"

"Umm, I don't know, Ange, it's getting kind of late…"

"Please?" Angel's eyes got incredibly wide, and she looked at Fang with that wounded puppy look she was so good at.

"Okay, fine," Fang said, sighing quietly. I could tell that Angel had Fang wrapped around her little finger.

She grabbed the large storybook and started to flip through the pages. "How about… this one?" she stopped at a page, somewhere in the middle of the book.

"Umm, I don't know. I don't really like princess stories. Why don't you wait till Max gets here?" Fang's expression at being asked to read a princess story had me smuggling my laughter. I didn't want to alert them that I was watching.

"No, I want you to read it. Please?" Yet again, she used the Bambi eyes, and of course, Fang's reply was-

"Oh all right." Fang grabbed the book and started to read. "Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, lived a young girl named Cinderella. Her mom died when she was very young, and her dad remarried to a very mean woman and her two daughters. Her dad died, too, and she was forced to live with her stepmother and stepsisters, who hated her-"

"You know, her name wasn't really Cinderella," Angel interrupted, "they called her that because she used to sit in the cinders, and that's why her evil stepmother and her stepsisters called her Cinderella."

"Are you going to let me finish the story?" Fang said, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, keep reading."

"Cinderella was forced to do the housework; she cleaned, cooked, and did all the servant work for her sisters and stepmother. One day, the Prince had a ball for all the young girls in the kingdom. Cinderella wasn't allowed to go, and she went to her room and cried. And then, her fairy godmother-"

"Wait, you forgot the singing mice! And when the mice sew the dress and sing that song! And when Jack and Gus went to get the ribbon and Lucifer tried to eat them and-"

"Whoa slow down there, Ange," Fang said, a hint of a smile in his expression, "I think that's only in the movie."

"Oh, okay. Well, keep reading!"

"Okay, okay. Her fairy godmother came to her, and granted her what she wanted. She bewitched some animals and a pumpkin so that she could go to the ball. Her godmother made her a white dress and glass slippers. She told Cinderella that she had to be back by midnight, because that's when the spell wore off. And off Cinderella went to the ball."

"You forgot the magic words she uses! Bididi-bodidi-, Bibido-bogiti, Bigidi-bodibi-"

"You mean Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Hmm, they don't say that in the book. Should we continue?"

"Okay!" At this pace, they were never going to finish the book.

"So she went to the ball, and when she got there, the Prince saw her. He went over to her and asked her to dance. She accepted, and they danced all night-"

"And they fell in love!" added Angel.

Fang smiled at her. "Yeah. But then the clock struck twelve, and Cinderella ran down the steps, trying to get out before the spell wore off completely. In the process, one of her glass slippers slipped out, and the Prince found it. And then-"

"He went to the house of every girl in the kingdom to see if the slipper fit."

"Do you want to finish telling the story yourself?" Fang asked Angel, looking amused.

"No, no. I want you to finish it."

"Okay. Well, when he got to Cinderella's house, her stepmother and stepsisters tried to prevent Cinderella from trying on the slipper. They didn't think it would fit, anyways, but they didn't want to take any chances. Unfortunately for them, the Prince insisted on Cinderella trying on the slipper. And once the slipper was put on her foot, it was certain that it belonged to her-"

"And then they got married and they lived happily ever after," Angel finished for him. Fang looked at Angel with his eybrow raised, and she giggled.

"Sorry," she said between giggles.

"And now it's time for bed," Fang said at last, closing the book.

"You know, you could be a Prince, like the one in Cinderella," Angel said, looking up at Fang. "And Max could be Cinderella." My eyes widened as she mentioned this.

"Umm Ange," Fang said cautiously, "Cinderella is just a story."

"Oh, I know, but if it were real, you guys would fit the roles perfectly." There was moment of silence. I decided that this was the time to make my grand appearance. I opened the door, as if I had just gotten there, walked in, and sat next to Fang. He looked a little uncomfortable, yet relieved.

"Hi Max!" said Angel.

"Hi sweetie, isn't it a little late for you to be up?"

Angel stifled a yawn. "No, I'm not even tired!"

"Uh-huh, time to get in bed. Did Fang already read you a story?"

"Yeah, he read Cinderella!" she said. I giggled at her happy tone.

"Okay, then time for bed," I said. Angel gave Fang a hug. He instantly became like stone, but then, sometihng about him softened and he hugged Angel back. It was times like these when I wished I owned a camera.

"Thank you Fang!" Angel said. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at his expression. "Night night."

Fang surprised me by kissing Angel's forehead. "Good night, Angel," he said, then, gently put her down on the bed. She instantly climbed in the covers and grabbed her favorite stuffed animal. "Night night Max," she said, and she gave me a hug.

"Night night, don't let the bed bugs bite," I said softly and kissed her forehead. Angel giggled and lay on her side. I quietly left the room. Fang was waiting for me out there.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"What for?" I asked innocently.

"You know what," he said simply. Fang turned around and walked away toward the general direction of his room.

"Oh, and by the way," he said, looking back, "you're not as sneaky as you think you are."

Well, darn.

**A special thanks to my friend, Vanessa, who helped me come up with the ending! Please review!**


End file.
